NORTHWESTERN ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO SALARY PETITION

10 days after the delivery of a petition signed by a majority of Postdocs & Research Associates (~700), Administration responded. We had asked Northwestern to respond to our economic needs by increasing minimum salary and providing annual adjustments accounting for years of experience and rising costs-of-living. Administration said no. They refused to consider any change in their salary policy, nor offer to even have a conversation with us about these issues. Instead, they thanked us for the “contributions the postdoctoral community makes to the University’s research and teaching missions, and, to that end, we look forward to celebrating National Postdoc Appreciation Week”.

Please see below for Provost Hagerty's response in its (brief) entirety:

"Dear petition signatories,

I am writing in response to your Sept. 3, 2024, petition to Northwestern University seeking an immediate increase of the postdoctoral minimum salary to $80,000, guaranteed annual raises based on years of experience, and additional annual increases.

Northwestern deeply values the contributions the postdoctoral community makes to the University’s research and teaching missions, and, to that end, we look forward to celebrating National Postdoc Appreciation Week. We also understand the concerns raised in the petition and appreciate the experiences that inform them.

We regularly review our compensation offerings, a practice that has led to a significant increase to the postdoc minimum rate to $61,008 for new and reappointed postdocs over the past year to match the benchmark set by the National Institutes of Health. And we will continue to consider your proposals in the context of the University’s overall compensation plans. That said, in this moment, we are planning for the year ahead and not in a position to immediately consider the demands detailed in the petition.

The Office for Research, The Graduate School and the Office of the Provost will continue to engage with our postdoctoral community to understand and respond to your needs. Thank you again for your contributions to our incredible community.”

NUPU Statement on Administration's Response

Northwestern’s own stated University Priorities includes “Invest in Our Employees”, acknowledging that “Faculty and staff are the people who earn great universities their status. Northwestern strives to maintain a diverse and equitable culture, and a compensation structure that attracts and retains talented faculty, staff and administrators.” Yet, the administration outright dismissed our stated concerns over the economic burdens that disproportionately affect the most diverse among us - including international workers, workers with childcare/health expenses, and workers from marginalized communities. In terms of compensation structure, Northwestern is also falling behind other leading research institutions that now offer postdocs well above NIH minimums and guarantee raises per year of experience.

Provost Hagerty - who was paid over $1 million by Northwestern in 2023, a raise of over 63% in compensation since 2021 - cites the “significant increase to the postdoc minimum rate to $61,008 [from $56,484 the previous year, an 8% increase that was set by the NIH] for new and reappointed postdocs” as a reason to dismiss our demand for a raise to $80K (as recommended by the National Postdoc Association to account for our level of education and costs of living in the Chicago/Evanston area being 40% and 36% higher than the national average) without any conversation or consideration. Raising the minimum salary of all ~1350 Postdocs and Research associates at NU would cost the University roughly $25 million - a fraction of what is being invested in building a new football stadium and less than they paid just 10 of the top executives and sports coaches at the University in 2023. Once again, Northwestern administration has shown where their priorities lie: with executives and administrators -- NOT with the workers that have brought in over $1 billion in annual research funding and make the University’s research and teaching mission a reality.

This response has demonstrated why it is so vital that we move forward with forming a postdoctoral union. We tried to have a meaningful conversation with administration over this issue by showing the widely felt economic burdens amongst postdocs through the Salary Petition -- only to be met with an offhand dismissal and empty promises to “continue to engage with our postdoctoral community to understand and respond to our needs”. Without the legal power of a union, it is clear that Northwestern has no interest in negotiating with us over what we deserve as integral members of the Northwestern community. Read more about what postdocs at other institutions have been able to achieve through unionization here.

We all know the urgency of the changes required to make Northwestern an inclusive and supportive workplace for all postdoctoral workers. We have a plan to achieve this through unionization, but it will require your participation to make this happen! Now is the time to take action!

Click here if you're interested in getting involved

Dear President Michael Schill and Provost Kathleen Hagerty,

After nearly a decade of stagnant compensation, the postdoctoral minimum salary at Northwestern is woefully inadequate to address our community’s economic reality and ensure a dignified quality of life for us to pursue our personal and professional aspirations.

Therefore we, the signatories of this petition, demand:

An immediate increase of the postdoctoral/research associate minimum salary to $80K,
Guaranteed annual raises commensurate with years of experience, and
Annual adjustments for inflation and cost of living.

Postdoctoral compensation should reflect the value we bring as workers. Northwestern positions itself as a premier research university and claims to recognize postdocs as “critical to our research and teaching missions”. However, our current salary does not adequately reflect our role in Northwestern’s research success.

Northwestern is falling behind nationally when it comes to fairly compensating postdocs. Just this year the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) recommended a minimum salary of $80,994 for the Chicago area with increases according to years of experience and annual inflation adjustments. Northwestern’s current postdoctoral minimum salary of $56,484 falls well short of this benchmark. Moreover, many of our peers have already voluntarily increased postdoc salaries to levels reflective of our demands. In some cases, the cost of living near these institutions is even lower than that in Chicago/Evanston (e.g., Princeton, Yale, and Penn). What is stopping Northwestern from paying postdocs a fair wage?

Northwestern postdocs should be able to live and work in dignity, free from undue financial hardship. The cost of living in the US has increased markedly over the last four years, particularly in cities like Chicago and Evanston, where the cost of living is 45% and 38% higher than the national average, respectively. With our pay going less and less far every year, we cannot afford to wait any longer. Our demand for $80K is in line with our economic reality and would raise the standard of living for the entire postdoctoral community. For those of us who are international workers–facing additional costs due to visa renewal and travel–as well as those of us supporting or starting families, the need for an immediate increase to the postdoctoral minimum salary with guaranteed raises and adjustments is desperately pressing.

We urge Northwestern to recognize our worth and pay us a fair wage.